Graphic Design Inspiration: 40 J-pop Album Covers

J-pop, ( Japanese pop music), has its roots in the 1960’s. The term “J-pop” was coined in the 1990’s and rose to a peak later that decade. It served to describe the energy behind the music. Although J-Pop is stuck in the 90’s (and deliciously so), the album cover art isn’t. It embraces modern culture, manga, anime, the strange and the outrageously hilarious. However, what can we, as designers, gain from this? We can understand how pushing boundaries, combining simplicity with symbolism and having no fear can create amazing designs! So feast your senses on these J-Pop album covers!

In this article, we present 40 J-Pop album covers. For viewing pleasure, they have been divided into “Cartoon”, “Illustrations”, “Manipulated Photography”, “Bold and the Bright”, “EXPLOSIONS!”.

EXPLOSIONS!

Shichiten Hakki Shijou Shugi! – Kotoko

Keep on Smashing the Blue – Last Alliance

Sign in to Disobey – Isobe Masabumi

Conclusion

As you can see, these album covers are full of energy and give the visual feel of the music. They also cover a wide range of styles, mediums, angles and emotions. These covers show the strong relationship between visual elements and typography which is an important point to consider when designing. It also demonstrates how to make something look eastern which is helpful if your called upon to design for a client or project from a different cultural heritage to you. When designing, whether it be websites, logos or illustrations, the designer has one chance to encapsulate their message. Look through these images again and see for yourself how they capture the music they are designed for. Also look at their treatment of type, colours and line work.